The Camera Cafe

The Camera Café is the ideal place to come for an hour or two with your laptop, particularly on a rainy day. Located just down the street from the British Museum, it’s one of a number of places I use when I need a break from the cultural overload that is the British Museum. Not that the Camera Café isn’t cultured and, if you haven’t got a laptop, you don’t need to worry, since there are a couple of bookshelves stacked with interesting titles to help pass the time.

The coffee is good without being outstanding, but the clincher for me is the hot chocolate fudge cake. It’s also worth popping in at lunchtime for a plate of noodles or a toasted sandwich (although I’ve not tried the sandwiches). Another factor in its favour is the relatively long opening hours. When everyone else is shutting up shop at about five o’clock, the Camera Café is open until seven.

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Cafe Kino

The problem with Stokes Croft in Bristol is that it has many, many cafes.  So many that, for example, within a few minutes’ walk of my friend’s house, I can think of five places that I’d happily go for coffee, cake, breakfast and/or lunch. There are plenty of other interesting-looking places which I’m sure are equally good, but I’ve never had the time/inclination/ opportunity to visit them. Choice is all well and good, but too much choice just makes my head hurt.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that there must be something pretty special about Cafe Kino to draw me in. However, trying to capture in words what that pretty special something is can be tricky. It scores on all the usual plus points: good coffee, friendly staff, free wi-fi and power sockets at about half the tables. It also has booths! Booths are a much under-rated and over-looked form of seating and more places should have them.

However, to find out what that extra special something is, you’ll have to read on…

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Coffee Angel

Espresso, the Coffee Angel wayYou’ve got to love a place that calls itself Coffee Angel, and so it is with Coffee Angel in Edinburgh’s New Town. The coffee is excellent, there’s a good range of cakes and it also has some food options.  What I liked best about Coffee Angel is the look and feel of the place; it’s definitely somewhere you could linger the whole afternoon and the friendly and helpful staff don’t look as if they’d mind.

It’s got free wifi and an excellent range of seating: sofas for lounging, tables for working, bar stools for perching and outside seating for that rare thing in Scotland, a sunny day! I really, really loved the place. The only downside I could see was that there weren’t any power sockets for my laptop.

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Bar Italia

A legend in its own considerable lifetime, the family-run Bar Italia in Soho is the closest London gets to a typical, Italian espresso bar, which is probably why I like it so much. The espresso alone is reason enough to come here. It is, for me, pretty much perfect. Strong, very short, smooth and with just a hint of bitterness in the after taste: I really can’t imagine improving on it in any way.

The only problem is that while Soho is a great place, I’ve never had a particular reason to go there. It’s not on my way to anywhere or near anywhere I regularly visit. So, while I’ve been a visitor to Bar Italia for at least 10 years, I didn’t used to go there that often. However, for the last couple of years, I’ve taken to coming here specifically to treat myself, just for the love of the coffee. Really, I can’t give it any higher recommendation than that.

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Algerian Coffee Stores

Algerian Coffee StoresI’m not going to say it’s the best, since I know there are very many fine purveyors of coffee beans in London, but put simply, the Algerian Coffee Stores on Old Compton Street is my (London) coffee retailer of choice. It has a massive range of coffee, plus various types of tea and an interesting selection of confectionery. If you don’t know what you want, just ask: the staff are very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

The Algerian Coffee Stores also serves take-away coffee, which, naturally, is of the highest quality. It also happens to be one of the cheapest cups of coffee you’ll find in London. The only downside is that the coffee can only be served in takeaway cups, so if you’re going to have an espresso, don’t forget to bring your own cup.

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Mimi’s Bakehouse

Mimi's Bakehouse

It’s all about the cake. That’s what it says over the counter at Mimi’s and that sums up what is rapidly becoming a must-visit place in Leith. In truth, it’s always been a must-visit for me, so it’s good to see the rest of the world catching up, even if I can’t always get a table now! Naturally, the coffee’s great and, as well as a mouth-watering range of cakes, Mimi’s does excellent breakfasts and lovely lunches.

One note of caution about Mimi’s: since it’s so popular, this really isn’t a place to just sit and linger. That’s not to say that the staff are going to hassle you to eat up and get out, far from it. However, it’s busy and that means a certain level of noise and bustle. Also, Mimi’s is all about the pleasure of the food. As such, it’s somewhere I go for the coffee, cake and food rather than to spend a couple of hours and have a coffee while I’m at it.

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To A Tea

From the menu of "To A Tea" with the slogan "Take Time for Tea"You’ve got to love the attitude of the owner, Stas Leonidou, and the whole ethos of To A Tea. Anyone who is prepared to have three different hot water boilers, each set to a different temperature, so that he can brew the perfect cuppa depending on the type of tea, has to be admired. And I don’t even drink the stuff.

To A Tea is my kind of place. Forget that he’s got the emphasis wrong (tea, not coffee), forget the cakes (they’re excellent by the way), forget the friendly atmosphere, the comfortable chairs, the superb staff. Anyone who takes this much care and shows this much passion about what he does deserves to succeed.

Well, actually that’s not entirely true. If you showed this much passion and then made lousy tea, you’d deserve to fail, but To A Tea does everything right, including the coffee. Go there, drink the tea and coffee, eat the cake, make the business thrive. Oh, and tell Stas that he needs to open a branch in Guildford!

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Abriachan Campsite and Cafe

The sign at the entrance to the Abriachan Campsite and CafeThis is easily the weirdest (in a nice way) café I’ve ever been to. Halfway between Drumnadrochit and Inverness on the Great Glen Way, the Abriachan Campsite and Café is a welcome stop-off point for hikers and cyclists. I love what the owner, Sandra, is trying to do and she deserves everyone’s support, although I appreciate that the basic facilities might not be for everyone. If you’re a hiker or mountain-biker though, you really shouldn’t mind, and it’s not every day you get to share your coffee with hens and a pig!

If you’re doing the northern section of the Great Glen Way, you really should stop by and say hello. If you’re not, you really should consider walking it, just for the pleasure of popping in and enjoying the fine coffee and warm welcome. You can even stop by if you’re in the area in your car, just as long as you don’t mind hiking a couple of kilometres from the nearest parking. It really is worth it!

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